U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has renewed her call for Congress to ban elected officials and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets after new reporting on President Donald Trump’s crypto income.
According to journalist Eleanor Terrett, Gillibrand’s renewed push followed the release of Trump’s financial disclosures, which showed more than $600 million in income tied to the $TRUMP memecoin in 2025. The senator said on Friday in a post on X, that the proposal would apply to the president, members of Congress and their spouses.
In a scathing attack Gillibrand said Trump’s single largest reported income source in 2025 was $636 million from issuing a memecoin. The statement also said First Lady Melania Trump issued her own memecoin and separately reported $6 million in income from NFTs and other digital collectibles.
The senator said public officials should not be able to issue or sponsor personal digital assets while serving in office. She framed the proposal as part of a broader ethics effort tied to digital asset legislation.
“public officials and their spouses should not be issuing memecoins,” said Gillibrand.
She also said Congress should act now and add stronger rules before digital asset legislation moves forward.
The proposal comes as lawmakers continue to debate how to regulate crypto markets in the U.S. Gillibrand has also supported broader crypto legislation, but she has argued that ethics rules must be included before any final deal moves through Congress.
Trump says he did not know the exact crypto figure
Trump’s latest financial disclosure has renewed attention on his family’s crypto activity. Trump earned more than $1.4 billion from crypto-related ventures in 2025, including income tied to World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP memecoin.
In a CNBC interview, Trump said he did not know the exact amount generated by the crypto ventures. When asked about the money, he said, “I could know about it. I didn’t.” He also defended the earnings and said there was nothing illegal about them.
The disclosure attributed a large share of the crypto income to licensing agreements and token sales connected to Trump-linked businesses. World Liberty Financial, a crypto project tied to Trump and his sons, was also listed among the income sources.
Trump has continued to support U.S. crypto growth. He has said the country should lead the digital asset sector and has pushed for clearer crypto rules as part of his administration’s policy agenda.
Crypto ethics debate follows earlier memecoin bills
The latest statement adds to earlier Democratic proposals targeting political memecoins. In 2025, Senator Chris Murphy introduced the MEME Act, which sought to stop federal officials from using their positions to profit from digital assets such as memecoins.
House Democrats also moved against official-linked memecoins in 2025. ABC News reported that the House proposal would bar the president, vice president, members of Congress, senior executive officials and certain family members from issuing, sponsoring or endorsing digital assets.
In addition, the issue has gained more attention because Trump and Melania Trump both launched memecoins before the 2025 inauguration. Supporters said the products were private-sector ventures. Critics said the tokens created ethical concerns because they were linked to public figures with direct influence over crypto policy.
As The Coin Headlines reported, Trump-family-linked crypto ventures had generated large gains while many investors in related tokens faced losses. That report named $TRUMP, World Liberty Financial, American Bitcoin and AI Financial Corp. among the ventures reviewed.
CLARITY Act faces added political pressure
The renewed ethics push also arrives as Congress weighs broader crypto market structure rules. The CLARITY Act is meant to define oversight for digital assets and divide authority between U.S. regulators.
The bill has drawn support from crypto firms that want clearer rules for exchanges, tokens and market infrastructure. However, Democrats have raised concerns over consumer protection, sanctions enforcement and elected officials’ financial ties to crypto projects.
Gillibrand has previously warned that no crypto market structure bill should advance without ethics language. A report cited her saying there would be no deal unless lawmakers added rules to stop presidents, vice presidents, senior officials and members of Congress from getting rich through insider status.
The debate now puts Trump’s crypto income at the center of the policy fight. The president is urging the U.S. to lead in crypto, while Democrats are pressing for guardrails around personal token ventures by officials and their families.
The Senate calendar also leaves limited time for action before the August recess. If lawmakers cannot agree on ethics language and other unresolved items, the crypto market structure bill could face more delay.
